Systems and methods for termination of session initiation protocol

ABSTRACT

Systems for graceful termination of support for session initiation protocol communications on a server are described. Systems include techniques for setting a time period for gracefully terminating such support, for sending a service unavailable message to a client, for causing the server to maintain support, until no later than the expiration of the time period for terminating support, for uncompleted session initiation protocol invites accepted by the server before sending the service unavailable message to the client, and for terminating support for session initiation protocol communications on the server no later than upon expiration of the time period for terminating support. Methods for graceful termination of such support and computer-readable storage media whose contents cause a computer system to perform a graceful termination of such support are also described.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/111,896, which is currently allowed and is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/776,659, filed Feb. 11, 2004, now U.S.Pat. No. 7,366,782, which claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/462,780 filed on Apr. 14, 2003. Each of theabove-cited applications is herein incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of improvements intelecommunications networks supporting session initiation protocolcommunications, and more particularly to techniques for managingterminations of such communications.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Modern telecommunications continue to evolve toward ever increasing useof the Internet for data transmissions. In support of this evolution,myriad traffic format protocols have been defined and implemented toenable transmission of various types of data for defined purposes. Amongthese protocols is the session initiation protocol (SIP), which isgenerally used in order to route and initiate the transmission oftelecommunications of various types of data. Although SIP is capable ofinitiating the transmission of data of any type, SIP is particularlyuseful and desirable for initiating transmission of live communications.In particular, SIP is a preferred protocol for initiating thetransmission of live two way voice communications such as telephonecalls. As the drive for reduced costs and higher signal qualityrelentlessly grows, maximizing the quality of SIP initiation oftransmission of live voice communications over the Internet isparticularly desirable.

Live voice communications in particular demand minimal delays in andfailures of initiation of call completion. The quality standards setlong ago for time division multiplexing protocols and other systems fortransmitting live voice communications must likewise be met for Internetbased routing to be competitive. Internet communications depend onremotely located servers to route and initiate the transmission of agiven signal through the web of potential pathways constituting theInternet. If a server fails during initiation of transmission of a livevoice communication, the conversation may be delayed or never connected.Desirably, provisions are accordingly made to minimize servicedisruptions resulting from a termination of support for initiation ofsuch communications.

SIP protocol communications overlay the concurrent implementation ofstream control transmission protocol (SCTP). SCTP is one of many generalpurpose communications protocols. SIP protocol communications canprovide for initiation of transmissions of voice over Internet protocol(VOIP). Although SIP is particularly useful for initiating transmissionof live two way telecommunications such as telephone conversations, SIPdoes support and can be used for initiating transmission of other liveor off line data communications.

SCTP includes a three way handshake shutdown protocol for shutting downSCTP server associations with clients. However, the SCTP handshakeshutdown protocol does not provide a means for the server to stop orreject new SIP service invites received from clients while the servercompletes processing of requests that the server has already receivedand accepted. As a result, shutting down the SCTP associations preventsthe server from responding to some service requests already received,possibly causing a loss of or delay in the calls associated with thoserequests. Moreover, support for SIP protocol communications cannot beshut down separately from shutdown of all SCTP protocol support.

There is accordingly a need for discrete systems and methods to manageterminations of support for SIP protocol communications, in order tominimize service interruptions and provide improved telecommunicationsquality.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, systems and methods are provided tofacilitate graceful terminations of support for SIP protocolcommunications on servers in an Internet protocol network. A gracefultermination protocol enables support for SIP protocol communications onsuch servers to be removed from service in an orderly manner thatminimizes disruptions of uncompleted SIP protocol requests to initiatecommunication transmissions, while not affecting other serveroperations.

In one embodiment according to the present invention, a system isprovided for graceful termination of support for session initiationprotocol communications on a server, comprising: a server supportingcommunications with a client conforming to session initiation protocol;means for setting a time period for gracefully terminating support forsession initiation protocol communications on the server; means forsending a service unavailable message to the client; means for causingthe server to maintain support, until no later than the expiration ofthe time period for terminating support, for uncompleted sessioninitiation protocol invites accepted by the server before sending theservice unavailable message to the client; and means for terminatingsupport for session initiation protocol communications on the server nolater than upon expiration of the time period for terminating support.

In another embodiment according to the present invention, a method isprovided for graceful termination of support for session initiationprotocol communications on a server, comprising the steps of:establishing communications between a server and a client conforming tosession initiation protocol; setting a time period for gracefullyterminating support for session initiation protocol communications onthe server; sending a service unavailable message to the client; causingthe server to maintain support, until no later than the expiration ofthe time period for terminating support, for uncompleted sessioninitiation protocol invites accepted by the server before sending theservice unavailable message to the client; and terminating support forsession initiation protocol communications on the server no later thanupon expiration of the time period for terminating support.

In a further embodiment according to the present invention, acomputer-readable medium is provided whose contents cause a computersystem to perform steps of a graceful termination of support for sessioninitiation protocol communications on a server, the steps comprising:establishing communications between a server and a client conforming tosession initiation protocol; setting a time period for gracefullyterminating support for session initiation protocol communications onthe server; sending a service unavailable message to the client; causingthe server to maintain support, until no later than the expiration ofthe time period for terminating support, for uncompleted sessioninitiation protocol invites accepted by the server before sending theservice unavailable message to the client; and terminating support forsession initiation protocol communications on the server no later thanupon expiration of the time period for terminating support.

A more complete understanding of the present invention, as well asfurther features and advantages of the invention, will be apparent fromthe following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary system in accordance with the presentinvention for executing a graceful termination of SIP protocolcommunications on a server;

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary method in accordance with the presentinvention for executing a graceful termination of SIP protocolcommunications on a server; and

FIG. 3 shows another exemplary method in accordance with the presentinvention for executing a graceful termination of SIP protocolcommunications on a server.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will now be described more fully with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which several presently preferredembodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, beembodied in various forms and should not be construed as being limitedto the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments areprovided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and willfully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

According to the present invention, systems and methods are provided tofacilitate graceful terminations of support for SIP protocolcommunications on servers in an Internet protocol network. A gracefultermination protocol in accordance with the present invention maysuitably enable support for SIP protocol communications on such serversto be removed from service in an orderly manner that minimizesdisruptions of uncompleted SIP protocol transmissions.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary system 100 comprising servers 102, 104, 106and 108 and clients 110, 112, 114 and 116 collectively forming anInternet protocol (IP) network 118.

In a given system 100, there may be thousands of servers and clientslinked together by communication conduits and covering a very largegeographical or worldwide area. At any given time, a certain number ofservers and clients may need to be removed from service in support ofSIP protocol communications. For example, such servers and clients maybe due for repair, maintenance or replacement. As the need arises for aparticular server to be taken out of service in support of SIP protocolcommunications, termination of such support on the server in an orderlymanner is desirable. Otherwise, an initiating party in a telephone callfrom point A to point B, for example, may experience a delay ininitiation of the call or a failure of the call to be connected over theIP network.

External control over the servers 102-108 and over the clients 110-116is provided by operation controllers 120 and 121. Interfaces 122, 124,126 and 128 communicate between local users of the IP network andclients 110-116, respectively. The term “client” herein designates acomponent on the system 100, such as a switch or another server forexample, which is capable of transmitting data to and receiving datafrom a server in SIP protocol format. A given client may or may notinteract with human users.

Server 102 is connected with clients 110, 112, 114 and 116 by SCTP links130, 132, 134 and 136, respectively. Server 104 is connected withclients 110, 112, 114 and 116 by SCTP links 138, 140, 142 and 144,respectively. Server 106 is connected with clients 110, 112, 114 and 116by SCTP links 146, 148, 150 and 152, respectively. Server 108 isconnected with clients 110, 112, 114 and 116 by SCTP links 154, 156, 158and 160, respectively. The foregoing SCTP links are transported over anunderlying layer of routers on the IP network. Operation controller 120is connected with clients 110 and 112 by links 162 and 164,respectively. Operation controller 121 is connected with clients 114 and116 by links 166 and 168, respectively. Operation controller 120 isconnected with servers 102 and 104 by links 170 and 172, respectively.Operation controller 121 is connected with servers 106 and 108 by links174 and 176, respectively. In this exemplary embodiment, links 162-176do not traverse the IP network 118, although some or all of such linkscan traverse the IP network as desired. Operation controllers 120 and121 are connected with each other by link 177. Client 110 communicateswith interface 122 by link 178. Client 112 communicates with interface124 by link 180. Client 114 communicates with interface 126 by link 182.Client 116 communicates with interface 128 by link 184. Clients 110 and112 communicate with each other by link 186. Clients 112 and 114communicate with each other by link 188. Clients 114 and 116 communicatewith each other by link 190. If desired, further links not shown can beestablished, such as direct links among the servers 102-108, or furtherdirect links among the clients 110-116. The foregoing links can beimplemented in any suitable transmission medium, such as by opticalfiber, microwaves, wireless, wire lines, or a combination of these orany other suitable techniques for communications.

The interfaces 122-128 communicate with system users located outside theIP network 118. The IP network 118 facilitates communications among theservers 102-108 and the clients 110-116 over both short and longdistances, including intercontinental distances. The interfaces 122-128connect users located in the vicinity of the clients 110-116,respectively, to the IP network. The interfaces 122-128 can be wholly orpartially integrated with the clients 110-116, respectively, or can beseparate systems connected by the links 178-184.

Each of the clients 110-116 is a computer system having executablesoftware available to it which enables the client to send and receivecommunications in Internet protocol format. The entirety of the Internetprotocol, Postel, J., “Internet Protocol”, STD 5, RFC 791, publishedSeptember 1981, is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Each of theclients 110-116 further has executable software available to it whichenables the client to send and receive communications in SCTP format,which is supported by the Internet protocol. The entirety of the SCTPprotocol, Stewart, R., Xie, Q., Morneault, K., Sharp, C., Schwarzbauer,H., Taylor, T., Rytina, I., Kalla, M., Zhang, L., and V. Paxson, “StreamControl Transmission Protocol”, RFC 2960, published October 2000, isalso hereby incorporated herein by reference. Each of the clients110-116 also has executable software available to it which enables theclient to send and receive communications in SIP format, which issupported by SCTP. The SIP protocol supports provision of VOIPcommunications. The entirety of the SIP protocol, Rosenberg, J.,Schulzrinne, H., Camarillo, G., Johnson, A., Peterson, J., Sparks, R.,Handley, M., and F., Schooler, “SIP: Session Initiation Protocol”, RFC3261, published June 2002, additionally is hereby incorporated herein byreference. Revisions in the Internet, SCTP and SIP protocols may bepublished, for example by the Internet engineering task force (IETF).

Each of the servers 102-108 is a computer system also having executablesoftware available to it which enables the server to send and receivecommunications in Internet protocol format. Each of such servers 102-108may be located at a desired central or mutually distant positions in theIP network 118. For example, the servers 102-108 may be located in thesame room, in different cities, or on different continents. Each of theservers 102-108 further has executable software available to it whichenables the server to send and receive communications in SCTP and SIPprotocol formats.

Each of operation controllers 120 and 121 is also a computer systemhaving executable software available to it which enables the operationcontroller to send and receive communications, typically in TCP-IPformat. Operation controllers 120 and 121 are configured to provideexternal control over the servers 102-108 and over the clients 110-116.Operation controllers 120 and 121 are responsible for management of thesystem 100. Operation control in the system shown in FIG. 1 is providedby two separate operation controllers 120 and 121. Alternatively,operation controllers 120 and 121 can be integrated so that operationcontrol is provided by a single operation controller. Thus, system 100can generally include one or more operation controllers exemplified byoperation controllers 120 and 121, suitably connected via links such aslink 177 as well as links through the IP network 118.

In operation of the system 100, the servers 102-108 and clients 110-116are activated for SIP protocol communications, as supported by the SCTPand Internet protocols. The servers 102-108 and clients 110-116 can beso activated either directly or as managed by operation controllers 120and 121. The clients 110-116 typically then initiate and establish SCTPassociations on the links 130-160 for purposes of supporting SIPprotocol communications with the servers 102-108. In this manner, a meshnetwork of potential SIP communications links through the IP network 118is established and ready for use among the servers 102-108 and clients110-116.

By way of example to illustrate the use of the mesh network, exemplaryinterface 122 may then receive a request from an initiating partylocated at point A to establish a telephone call to a receiving partylocated at point B. As shown in FIG. 1, the interface 122 and client 110are located near point A, and the interface 124 and client 112 arelocated near point B, which may be distant from point A. Client 110obtains the uniform resource identifier (URI) for the destination pointB. Client 110 then reviews its listing of active SCTP associations withservers for SIP protocol communications, thus identifying servers102-108 as potentially available to initiate transmission of thetelephone call through the IP network 118. Client 110 compiles a requesttarget list for SIP protocol invites regarding initiation oftransmission of the call from point A to point B, and sends SIP protocolinvite messages on links 130, 138, 146 and 154 in a defined priorityorder to servers 102-108, respectively. In this example, server 102 iscurrently in service, has available capacity, and is in first priorityorder on the request target list. Accordingly, server 102 sends amessage to client 110 accepting the SIP protocol invite. The serviceinvite is then processed by the server 102 and the telephone call isinitiated by the server 102 between the initiating party at point A andthe receiving party at point B. The path of the telephone call is routedfrom interface 122 on link 178 to client 110, then on link 186 over theIP network 118 to client 112, over link 180 to interface 124, andfinally to the receiving party at point B.

In an alternative embodiment, server 102 may be in redirect mode. Inthis embodiment, server 102 directs client 110 to request server 104 toprocess the SIP invite and initiate the call. The path of the telephonecall is then routed by server 104 on link 186 in the same manner as inthe previous example. In another alternative embodiment, server 102 maybe programmed to reject SIP protocol invites having definedcharacteristics. For example, server 102 may be programmed to reject SIPprotocol invites originating from or terminating at defined portions ofthe system 100.

In accordance with the present invention, each of servers 102-108further has executable software available to it for initiating,executing and monitoring graceful termination of its support for SIPprotocol communications. Hence, each of servers 102-108 can gracefullybe taken out of service for initiating communications through use of SIPprotocol messages. Accordingly, when exemplary server 102 is designatedfor termination of SIP protocol support, the system 100 is capable ofcausing such a graceful termination to occur. Such a termination may berequired, for example, in the event of an overload, or if the server 102requires scheduled repair, maintenance or replacement. By way ofillustration, operation controller 120 then may send, or server 102 mayitself generate, or may receive from a person acting as systemadministrator, an instruction to perform a graceful termination ofsupport for SIP protocol communications on exemplary server 102. Server102 optionally may then either receive from operation controller 120 oritself generate a verification for security purposes that theinstruction is properly authorized. No approval of the instruction fromclients 110-116 is required, although such approval alternatively couldbe sought and obtained.

The server 102 then sets a guard timer for a subsequent time perioddeemed sufficient by the server 102 to complete the processing of allpreviously accepted SIP protocol invites and initiation of all resultingtelephone calls or other communications. The server 102 is engaged inprocessing requests for routing and initiation of communications ratherthan carrying the resulting communications themselves. Hence, the server102 has a discrete queue of message transmissions to be completed beforeshutdown and can determine an appropriate guard timer period withreasonable accuracy. Once the initiations have been completed, theserver 102 is no longer involved in transmission of such resultingcommunications. Hence, the server 102 can then gracefully refuse toaccept further SIP protocol invites without delaying, preventing orinterrupting the resulting communications. The guard timer ensures thatthe SCTP associations of server 102 are taken down for purposes of SIPprotocol communications no later than upon expiration of the guardperiod. In this manner, timely removal of server 102 from online SIPprotocol service is ensured. If the server 102 has completed theprocessing of all previously accepted SIP protocol invites and initiatedall resulting telephone calls or other communications before expirationof the guard timer, then the SCTP associations can be taken down beforethe guard timer expires.

Server 102 then sends service unavailable messages to clients 110-116indicating that further SIP protocol services are unavailable on theserver 102. The service unavailable messages can either be sent to allclients such as exemplary clients 110-116 with which server 102currently maintains active SCTP associations, or can be prompted byfurther SIP protocol invites received by server 102. In the latter case,a service unavailable message may only be sent to a given client inresponse to a SIP protocol invite received by the server 102. In orderto test the graceful termination system, a SIP protocol serviceunavailable message can alternatively be sent only to operationcontroller 120 for analysis, without affecting the operations of onlineclients.

Server 102 optionally sets a defined retry after time period, which isthen communicated to clients in the service unavailable messages. Theretry after time period is set to be at least as long as the guard timerperiod, and sufficiently long for server 102 to complete the processingof queued accepted SIP protocol invite messages, send any neededresponses to clients 110-116, and remove its SCTP associations forpurposes of SIP protocol communications. In this manner, initiation iscompleted as to all communications for which the server 102 haspreviously accepted SIP protocol invites before the retry after timerexpires. Optionally, the retry after time period can be set to a defaultvalue, such as a defined period in addition to the period of guardtimer, by operation controller 120 or by the server 102 itself.

Exemplary client 110 then receives the SIP protocol service unavailablemessage and optionally sets a countdown timer for the duration of theretry after time period. Client 110 then optionally refrains fromsending SIP protocol invites to server 102 for the duration of the retryafter time period. Server 102 declines to accept, for the duration ofthe retry after time period, any further SIP protocol invites that aresent to server 102. Client 110 optionally deletes server 102 for theduration of the retry after period from its listing of active SCTPassociations for purposes of generating further SIP protocol invitemessages. Clients 112, 114 and 116 may carry out these same steps.

Server 102 then attempts to complete the processing of all queued SIPprotocol invites previously accepted by the server 102, including allservice messages that need to be sent to clients. No later than uponexpiration of the guard period timer, server 102 then removes its SCTPassociations from SIP protocol service, and optionally reports tooperation controller 120 that graceful termination of SIP protocolcommunications has been completed. Server 102 is then ready forexecution of further partial or complete terminations of support forother communication protocols, as well as maintenance and other offlineprocedures.

Following removal of their SCTP associations for SIP protocolcommunications with server 102, clients 110-116 cannot send SIP invitemessages to server 102. However, exemplary client 110 can use its activeSCTP associations with alternative servers 104, 106 and 108 in order totransmit SIP protocol invites. For example, a telephone call initiatedat point A and to be received at point B can be routed by server 104through the IP network 118.

Optionally, client 110 may prioritize its SIP protocol invite messagesin an orderly manner. For example, client 110 may prioritize delivery ofSIP protocol invite messages to servers 102-108 based on their locationsrelative to client 110 or based on their locations along the route for agiven transmission. Alternatively, client 110 may prioritize suchdeliveries on a round robin, primary-secondary, or other basis, choosingservers 102, 104, 106, and 108 in a selected order and then repeatedlycycling through the same order. Client 110 may be instructed, forexample by operation controller 120, to skip a designated server. Client110 may reflect this prioritization in its list of active SCTPassociations for SIP protocol communications. For example, client 110may establish in its SCTP associations list a pointer marking the lastserver to which a SIP protocol invite was transmitted. In generating itsnext SIP protocol invite message, client 110 then chooses the next SCTPassociation in its list of active SCTP associations as the SIP protocolinvite message destination. If there is no reply to a given SIP protocolinvite message within a defined SIP invite message response period, thenclient 110 sends a SIP protocol invite message to the next server in itslist of active SCTP associations. In the event that there is no timelyresponse to any of the SIP invite messages sent to all of the servers onthe active SCTP association list, then client 110 may communicate with anon Internet protocol server such as a time division multiplexing (TDM)server in order to route a given call.

Optionally, clients 110-116 monitor the SIP protocol support status ofserver 102 while SIP protocol support is unavailable on the server.Optionally, clients 110-116 may attempt to send server status messagesto server 102 in order to maintain an ongoing complete listing of theiractive SCTP associations for SIP protocol communications. Optionally,clients 110-116 can be notified of the scheduled time for return ofserver 102 to SIP protocol service. In this manner, clients 110-116 cancheck on the availability of server 102 for SIP protocol communicationsand notify operation controller 120 if server 102 is not back online forSIP protocol communications as scheduled. Such notification can serve asa backup to direct monitoring of server 102.

Eventually, support for SIP protocol communications may bere-established on server 102. Clients 110-116 then receive responses toserver status messages sent to server 102, indicating that server 102 isback online for SIP protocol communications. Clients 110-116 may thenadd server 102 to listings of their active SCTP associations for SIPprotocol communications and recommence sending SIP protocol invites toserver 102.

Although the operation of system 100 as discussed above is in thecontext of transmission of telephone calls, the SIP protocol assupported by the SCTP and Internet protocols also facilitatesinitiations of electronic transmission of other data streams. The samesystem configuration and operating procedures can be employed forinitiating transmissions of such data streams as with telephonecommunications.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary method 200 for carrying out the gracefultermination of SIP protocol communications. The exemplary method 200employs the system 100 comprising servers 102-108, clients 110-116, andoperation controllers 120 and 121, linked together by communicationsconduits as discussed above in connection with FIG. 1. The system 100supports SIP, SCTP and Internet protocol communications.

In phase I including steps 205, 210, and 215, a system in normaloperating mode is established for support of SIP protocolcommunications, and a decision is made to gracefully shut down suchsupport.

At step 205, SCTP associations are established for SIP protocolcommunications between the exemplary servers 102-108 and exemplaryclients 110-116 of the exemplary system 100. SCTP associations can beinitiated by either the servers or clients as needed. Typically, SCTPassociations are initiated by a client that has been offline and is nowbeing placed in service on the system 100. By way of illustration, inthis example, each of the exemplary clients 110-116 establishes SCTPassociations for SIP protocol communications with each of the exemplaryservers 102-108. In an alternative embodiment, SCTP associations may beselectively established between servers and clients to suit current orongoing needs of the system 100. Once the desired SCTP associations areestablished, the system 100 is in normal operating mode to support SCTPprotocol communications, and can be used to satisfy SCTP protocolservice demands. Service demands can originate, for example, fromreceipt by exemplary interfaces 122-128 of requests for telephone callrouting from end users. End users can be located, for example, atexemplary points A and B which are connected with the system 100 andlocated remotely from each other.

At step 210, exemplary server 102 self generates or receives fromoperation controller 120 or from a person acting as systemadministrator, an instruction to be taken out of service for SIPprotocol communications by graceful termination. Optionally at step 215,authorization for the graceful termination instruction is verified.Verification can be done, for example, by server 102 itself or byoperation controller 120. Unauthorized termination of a server for SIPprotocol communications unnecessarily removes system capacity fromservice.

In phase II including steps 220, 225, 230 and 235, the exemplary server102 sets a guard timer to govern the graceful termination, andoptionally communicates the scheduled termination to clients.

At step 220, the exemplary server 102 sets a guard timer, which governsthe timely removal of the server's SCTP associations for SIP protocolcommunications. The guard timer is set by the server 102 for a timeperiod expected to be sufficient to enable the server to complete theprocessing of all queued requests to initiate communications, send anyfurther messages regarding its impending removal from SIP protocolservice, and remove its SCTP associations for SIP protocolcommunications.

At step 225 the exemplary server 102 sends service unavailable messagesin response to further SIP protocol invites received from specificclients such as exemplary client 110. At step 230, the exemplary server102 sends a SIP protocol service unavailable message to all clientslinked to the server by active SCTP associations. Steps 225 and 230 bothprovide similar announcements to the exemplary clients 110-116 regardingthe graceful termination of SIP protocol communications on exemplaryserver 102. Accordingly, instead of performing both of steps 225 and230, one of them may be selected for use on the system 100 or for use ina particular graceful termination of a server for SIP protocolcommunications. At step 235, a retry after period is optionally set bythe server 102 and included in the service unavailable messages.

In phase III including steps 240, 245 and 250, clients respond to thescheduled termination, and plan their own operations.

Optionally at step 240, in response to the service unavailable message,exemplary client 110 sets a countdown timer based on the retry aftertimer communicated from the server 102 and removes the designation ofexemplary server 102 from its listing of active SCTP associations forSIP protocol communications for the duration of the countdown period.Exemplary client 110 then uses other servers as indicated on its listingof active SCTP associations in order to request routing ofcommunications by sending SIP protocol invites, until server 102 is backonline.

At step 245, the exemplary client 110 optionally attempts to send serverstatus test messages to the server 102 until the server 102re-establishes its SCTP association for SIP protocol communications withclient 110. Client 110 may wait until expiration of the retry afterperiod before it commences sending server status test messages to theexemplary server 102.

At step 250, client 110 may be notified by server 102 of a scheduledtime for SIP protocol service to be restored on the server. Afterexpiration of the scheduled time, the exemplary client 110 optionallynotifies operation controller 120 if the exemplary server 102 is notthen back online for SIP protocol communications on the system 100.

In phase IV including steps 255, 260 and 265, the graceful terminationis executed by the exemplary server 102.

At step 255 the exemplary server 102 attempts to complete the processingof all queued SIP protocol invites previously accepted, and to completethe transmissions of any needed messages to the clients 110-116. At step260, no later than upon expiration of the guard timer, server 102 thenremoves its SCTP associations from SIP protocol service.

Optionally at step 265, the exemplary server 102 reports to operationcontroller 120 that the graceful termination for SIP protocolcommunications has been completed. In this manner, operation controllers120 and 121 can manage the overall system 100. Although SIP protocolcommunications with the exemplary server 102 are thus shut down, theserver may remain powered up and still support other SCTP protocolcommunications and other communication protocols. Alternatively, theserver 102 may be taken offline as to all communication protocols orpowered down, in order to facilitate offline maintenance and otherprocedures.

In phase V including steps 270 and 275, further optional activitiesoccur with respect to the exemplary server 102. At step 270, offlinemaintenance and other procedures may be performed on the exemplaryserver 102. If, for example, the graceful termination was executed toremedy a service overload on the server 102, this step can be omitted.At step 275, when the exemplary client 110 receives a server availablemessage from exemplary server 102 in response to a server status testmessage, then client 110 optionally reactivates the designation ofserver 102 on its SCTP associations listing for SIP protocolcommunications. Exemplary client 110 may then recommence sending SIPprotocol invites to server 102 in its prioritized listing of availableservers.

FIG. 3 shows another exemplary method 300 for carrying out the gracefultermination of SIP protocol communications. The exemplary method 300employs the server 102, the client 110, and the operation controller120, arranged in a manner consistent with and linked together bycommunications conduits as discussed in connection with FIG. 1.

In step 305, the server 102 establishes an SCTP association with theclient 110. The server 102 and the client 110 both supportcommunications in SIP, SCTP and IP protocols.

In step 310, the server 102 itself generates, or the operationcontroller 120 or a person acting as a system administrator generatesand sends to the server 102, an instruction for the server 102 to betaken out of service support for SIP protocol communications by gracefultermination.

In step 315, server 102 sends a service unavailable message to client110. This service unavailable message may indicate that no further SIPprotocol invites are to be sent to server 102 or will be accepted byserver 102 until after a defined retry after period.

In step 320, server 102 continues attempting to complete the processingof queued SIP protocol invites and related communications with clients,but no longer than until expiration of a defined guard period.Optionally, no further SIP protocol communications are initiated by theclient 110 with the server 102 between receipt of the serviceunavailable message and expiration of the defined retry after period.

In step 325, server 102 removes its SCTP association with client 110from support for SIP protocol communications no later than uponexpiration of the guard period. If server 102 completes the processingof all queued SIP protocol invites and related communications withclients before the guard period expires, the SCTP association can bethen removed before expiration of the guard period.

Although the graceful termination protocols discussed above inconnection with FIGS. 1-3 are implemented in software, in otherembodiments all or portions of the instruction steps executed bysoftware may be resident in firmware or in other program media inconnection with one or more computers, which are operative tocommunicate with a telecommunication system supporting Internet, SCTPand SIP protocols. The term software as used in this specificationrefers to and includes all such forms of executable instructions. Theterm server as used in this specification refers to and includes anymicroprocessor system capable of executing software code implementingSIP protocols.

The present teachings may be adapted to a variety of contexts consistentwith this disclosure and the claims that follow. For example, althoughthe above discussions of FIGS. 2 and 3 make reference to the exemplarysystem 100 shown in FIG. 1, the exemplary methods shown in FIGS. 2 and 3can be implemented on other systems, and the system 100 can be modifiedas discussed herein. For example, any desired number of one or moreservers and clients can be incorporated in the system. Optional stepsand features as discussed in connection with FIG. 2 can be added to themethod discussed in connection with FIG. 3. Operations can be centrallylocated in a single center or in a plurality of centers, or distributedinto an array of nodes in mutual communication, or otherwise configuredas desired. Any desired number of interfaces can be employed, and theirtasks can be wholly or partially performed by the clients. The decisionmaking, control and communication responsibilities regarding gracefultermination, such as setting timers and sending announcements, can beperformed as desired in whole or part by servers, operations centers, orother suitable components on the system. The orders of execution of thesteps as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 as discussed above are exemplary and nonlimiting. For example, once a graceful termination decision has beenmade and communicated to a client, ensuing steps to be performed byservers can be performed simultaneously, before or after performance ofsteps by clients.

We claim:
 1. A method for terminating a support for session initiationprotocol communications, comprising: establishing, by a processor of aserver, communications between the server and a client conforming tosession initiation protocol; setting, by the processor, a time periodfor terminating the support for session initiation protocolcommunications on the server, wherein the server rejects all sessioninitiation protocol invites received after the time period is set andremoves stream control transmission protocol associations, wherein thetime period is set in accordance with an amount of time that issufficient for processing uncompleted session initiation protocolinvites accepted by the server; and sending, by the processor, a serviceunavailable message to the client.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: sending the service unavailable message to the client inresponse to a session initiation protocol invite received by the serverfrom the client.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the time period forterminating the support for session initiation protocol communicationsis provided along with the service unavailable message.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: rejecting a session initiation protocolservice invite received on the server after sending the serviceunavailable message to the client.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: causing a second server to support communications with theclient conforming to session initiation protocol.
 6. The method of claim1, further comprising: receiving a server status test message by theserver until the server re-establishes support for session initiationprotocol communications with the client.
 7. The method of claim 6,wherein the server status test message is received in accordance with ascheduled time as to when the server will return to supporting thesession initiation protocol communications.
 8. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing a plurality of instructions, which,when executed by a processor of a server, cause the processor to performoperations for terminating a support for session initiation protocolcommunications, the operations comprising: establishing communicationsbetween the server and a client conforming to session initiationprotocol; setting a time period for terminating the support for sessioninitiation protocol communications on the server, wherein the serverrejects all session initiation protocol invites received after the timeperiod is set and removes stream control transmission protocolassociations, wherein the time period is set in accordance with anamount of time that is sufficient for processing uncompleted sessioninitiation protocol invites accepted by the server; sending a serviceunavailable message to the client; and terminating the support forsession initiation protocol communications on the server no later thanan expiration of the time period for terminating the support for sessioninitiation protocol communications.
 9. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 8, further comprising: sending theservice unavailable message to the client in response to a sessioninitiation protocol invite received by the server from the client. 10.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the timeperiod for terminating the support for session initiation protocolcommunications is provided along with the service unavailable message.11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, furthercomprising: rejecting a session initiation protocol service invitereceived on the server after sending the service unavailable message tothe client.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8,further comprising: causing a second server to support communicationswith the client conforming to session initiation protocol.
 13. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, further comprising:receiving a server status test message by the server until the serverre-establishes support for session initiation protocol communicationswith the client.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 13, wherein the server status test message is received inaccordance with a scheduled time as to when the server will return tosupporting the session initiation protocol communications.
 15. A systemfor terminating a support for session initiation protocolcommunications, comprising: a processor of a server; and acomputer-readable medium storing a plurality of instructions which, whenexecuted by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations,the operations comprising: establishing communications between theserver and a client conforming to session initiation protocol; setting atime period for terminating the support for session initiation protocolcommunications on the server, wherein the server rejects all sessioninitiation protocol invites received after the time period is set andremoves stream control transmission protocol associations, wherein thetime period is set in accordance with an amount of time that issufficient for processing uncompleted session initiation protocolinvites accepted by the server; and sending a service unavailablemessage to the client.
 16. The system of claim 15, further comprising:sending the service unavailable message to the client in response to asession initiation protocol invite received by the server from theclient.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein the time period forterminating the support for session initiation protocol communicationsis provided along with the service unavailable message.
 18. The systemof claim 15, further comprising: rejecting a session initiation protocolservice invite received on the server after sending the serviceunavailable message to the client.
 19. The system of claim 15, furthercomprising: causing a second server to support communications with theclient conforming to session initiation protocol.
 20. The system ofclaim 15, further comprising: receiving a server status test message bythe server until the server re-establishes support for sessioninitiation protocol communications with the client.